


American Women

by softjoycebyers



Category: Carol (2015)
Genre: 1950s, Alternate Universe, Drama, F/F, Romance, be gay do crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softjoycebyers/pseuds/softjoycebyers
Summary: Therese sighs, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, this wasn’t the first time they’ve done this, “Ca–– ”“Lilith,” Carol cuts her off pointedly, and Therese huffs in contempt.She was still coming to terms with their new names. No matter how many times she repeats them to herself in her mind, they haven’t quite stuck yet. To everyone else, they were Lilith and Molly, but to her, they will always be Carol and Therese.The Carol/Nightmare Alley AU no one really asked for.
Relationships: Carol Aird/Therese Belivet
Comments: 18
Kudos: 57





	American Women

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sure we've all seen the pictures of Cate and Rooney on the set of Carol 2.0 or as it's now called, Nightmare Alley. 
> 
> If Carol, Nightmare Alley, Bonnie and Clyde, Bandits and Ocean's 8 all had a baby, it would be this, kind of. 
> 
> I wasn't really sure I could write this but downhillnow (Silje) convinced me I could, because I don't really write for this fandom but I do read a lot of it, so thank you! + I was super inspired by those on-set because c'mon they're totally Carol and Therese you can't change my mind. 
> 
> I'm a one person editing machine, any and all mistakes are mine. Please save your tomato throwing till the end.
> 
> Happy reading!

“Is that him?” 

“Yes.” 

“He looks kind of pathetic.” 

“That’s why I picked him.” 

Carol closes the compact mirror she was using to touch up her lipstick, tosses it in her clutch and snaps it shut with one gloved hand. 

The woman next to her turns away from her, pulling her watch from the breast pocket of her coat. She pretends to check the time but she’s really eyeing the disheveled man at the other side of the bar. 

Therese cocks her head to the side, frowning, “he might already be too drunk.” 

“Not quite,” Carol shakes her head as she runs a hand through her blonde hair. 

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

Therese raises an eyebrow in mild annoyance even though she knows Carol can’t see her. 

“Of course,” she responds evenly. 

“Good, you have 15 minutes. Wait for my signal,” Carol says as she stands to leave. 

Therese sighs, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, this wasn’t the first time they’ve done this, “Ca–– ”

_“Lilith,”_ Carol cuts her off pointedly, and Therese huffs in contempt.

She was still coming to terms with their new names. No matter how many times she repeats them to herself in her mind, they haven’t quite stuck yet. To everyone else, they were Lilith and Molly, but to her, they will always be Carol and Therese. 

Therese remains seated at the bar, watching Carol saunter over to the man at the other side. This is the part of the job she hates the most –– watching Carol flirt to accomplish their goal. She supposed it was a necessary evil but it still drove her mad. 

Therese presses two fingers to her fake mustache and orders a gin, the burning sensation of the hot liquid pushing down her throat will be a welcome distraction from the scene playing out in front of her. 

15 minutes. That’s all they had to do this for, by the looks of it now, the man had already done half their work for them. His drunkenness didn’t impair him from attempting to touch Carol, however. And if it wouldn’t have jeopardized their entire operation, Therese would not hesitate to jump over the bar and punch the shit out of him for touching her. 

It was another few minutes before Carol gave the signal, and Therese took her time getting up once she saw it. Carol was more than capable of handling herself but she couldn’t help but purposely bump into the backs of their chairs, making sure to really hit the guy in the shoulder. 

“Watch it!” 

The man begins to stand but Carol stops him with a gentle hand to his cheek, turning his head before he could get a look at Therese’s face. The latter escaping through the back stairwell after Carol slips her his room key. She didn’t miss the glare Carol threw her way as she dashed away, it was a risky move but she felt better for doing it. 

Therese knew Carol loathed this part as much she hated watching it, but she kept reminding herself this was only a means to an end, men really were that gullible. 

Therese makes it to the fifth floor without running into anyone else in the halls, inside the room she leans back against the door and breathes a sigh of relief. 

_Now, to find any treasures she could fit in her pockets._

_– ct –_

_the past is prologue._

They had met on a day not unlike any other. 

Therese was just passing through town, not planning on staying long but she needed more time to scrounge up some money to move on to the next. She had stumbled upon the outdoor fresh market almost on accident, having gotten lost while acquinting herself with her new surroundings. 

She was starting to get a bit peckish when she decided to take advantage of all the free samples the market had to offer, and she figured _why not_ help herself to other things as well, her fingers itching for some excitement. 

Therese had been following a sleazy looking man with a roaming eye, when she saw _her,_ and her world suddenly tipped on its axis. Captivated, she started following the woman around, drawn in by some sort of magnetic pull. 

_Who was she?_

For her part, the woman seemed entirely unaware of the attention she commanded from the people around her. Or maybe she did know and hid it very well. Therese was not the only one who’s head turned but her gaze was the only one that lingered longer than what was considered normal. 

She watched, spellbound, as the woman gingerly tested the ripeness of fruits or the quality of vegetables. When she laughed, whether at a child who accidentally ran into her legs or at a vendor who said something funny, her entire face cracked open, and Therese felt as though she was watching daybreak over the horizon. She was completely enthralled by this beautiful stranger.

Therese is broken from her stupor when someone new entered her line of vision, a frantic mother looking for her child suddenly obstructing her view and she loses sight of the tall blonde in front of her. She approaches the spot the woman had been previously standing in when an icy voice halts her. 

“Are you following me?” Therese turns around to find accusatory eyes staring back at her.

“Is there something I can help you with?” The woman raises a perfectly sculpted brow, and Therese gasps, whether at being caught or at the intensity of her stare, she’s not sure. But she’s at a loss for words, the blonde is even more striking up close. 

Realizing she’s caught Therese of guard, the look on the woman’s face changes, she smiles impishly. She takes Therese’s momentary distraction as an opportunity to step closer into her personal space, and her breath hitches at their close proximity. 

“You should have been quicker than that,” the blonde hums into Therese’s ear. She winks as she backs away slowly, taking something from her coat pocket along with her. 

It only takes a moment for Therese to understand she’s just been had. 

“Hey!” Therese yells, running after her, 

The older woman smirks when she finally catches up to her.

“What kind of a name is Belivet?” she asks instead of introducing herself. 

“It’s Czech,” Therese says in between breaths, “it’s changed, originally— ” she begins to add, not sure why she’s giving so much information to a stranger who’d just stolen from her.

“It’s very original. And your first name?” 

“Therese.” 

The woman hands the wallet back to her, pulling her cigarette pack from her purse, offering her one.

“Therese. Not Theresa?” Her voice is as smooth as velvet, and Therese tries to not choke as she exhales the smoke. 

“No.”

“Therese Believet… it’s lovely,” 

She’d decided she likes the way this stranger says her name. 

“And yours?” 

“Carol.” 

And that was it. Somewhere between admiring the beauty beside her as they walked through the market, and trying to prove to her she was indeed a worthy pick-pocket, Therese knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Carol. 

But Carol was married, and that was a reality Therese didn’t want to acknowledge. Acknowledging it meant that Carol wasn’t fully hers, probably never would be. 

For a while she deluded herself into thinking having Carol within the confines of her tiny one bedroom apartment was enough, she reveled in the days Carol spent the night but those were few and far in between. She reckoned it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for her, and Therese didn’t want to give her up. 

Carol never brought her marriage up, though, and they’ve been together a lot in the last several weeks. Therese was getting impatient. She’d already stayed longer than she thought she would. Meeting Carol had not been in her plans, and she was beginning to fear her feelings might not be reciprocated. 

Therese needed to know where they stood.

One night laying together in bed, Therese tucked under Carol’s warm arm as the blonde blew smoke out the open window, she pointed to the the ring on Carol’s finger. There were alot things Therese wanted to know but was afraid to push her on. She had fallen for Carol a lot quicker than she ever thought possible and wanted to know everything about her. She wanted to ask her these things but wasn’t sure Carol was ready to answer them. 

Therese could feel Carol take a deep breath, her head moving with the motion of her chest.

“Marrying Harge was a mistake,” Carol finally starts after a long pause, getting far off look in her eye, “he’s away a lot on business and doesn’t care what I do as long as it doesn’t embarrass him but… he has people check in on me from time to time. Which is why I can’t stay or come over sometimes.”

Therese sits up, taking the cigarette from Carol’s nimble fingers and puts to her mouth for a quick inhale. 

“Carol–– “

“But I’ve decided to leave him,” Carol interrupts her, dodging her gaze as she said this, instead she picks at the blanket in her lap. “I can't –– I don’t want to stay with him anymore. It’s not fair to you… me… or us.”

“I love you,” Therese kisses her, the intensity of it almost knocking Carol back on the bed. 

“Oh darling, I love you too. So much. 

Carol tells her about the earlier days in their marriage. Harge was not a bad man but he’d never been great either. He’d been promised a bright future, having had everything handed to him all his life, however, he’d become increasingly belligerent over the years when that no longer worked in his favor. There was always someone smarter and younger that seemed to move up quicker while he remained stagnant. 

He’d also grown resentful of Carol and dissatisfied at home with their inability to have children, which he saw as a failure on her part even though she knew she wasn’t the problem. But that was another thing he refused to accept. 

She’d been planning to leave him once before, but backed out at the last minute. 

Carol was going to leave him back when she thought she was in love with her best friend Abby, though, she hadn’t been sure they could make it work. Her entire life she’d been groomed to marry well, and if things ended badly with Abby then she’d truly have no one, and that was a risk she wasn’t willing to take.

Ultimately, she decided to stay, realizing she didn’t love Abby the way she deserved, and it was unfair to her to have her believe otherwise. It had fractured their friendship –– Abby accepted a job offer in New York and initially planned to leave without telling her but she couldn’t do it. She turned the car around and drove to Carol’s house the Sunday she was leaving to say goodbye. They both cried, apologized, and promised to work on repairing their friendship. 

_“If you ever do decide to leave that bastard, you know where to find me.”_

“And I’m ready to do that now,” Carol says, emphatically. 

They started plotting their escape that night, but it wouldn’t come without its challenges. 

Carol had been slyly withdrawing money from their account for over two years. It started when she first tried to leave, and she’d amassed quite a comfortable sum but stopped after deciding to stay. Harge trusted her enough with their finances, which she supposed was probably the most progressive thing about him. But Carol knew he had someone check that too, but she never took out more than she thought she could get away with without drawing suspicion. She could always pass off the extra charge on a new dress or something new for the house. 

The night they’d planned to leave, Harge had gotten home earlier than she’d expected, and he was in a much more affectionate mood. Usually he’d have a few drinks before coming home for dinner but he said his boss wanted to talk with him first thing Monday morning and he had a very good feeling about it.

This worried Carol, and she had a sneaking suspicion Harge was expecting something from her tonight that she had no desire to give. Therese would be waiting for her a few streets down, and that’s where her mind was. 

Harge had gone straight for the bottle of scotch upon arrival, and Carol told herself, all she had to do was wait it out, he could never hold liquor well. 

She pretended to be asleep by the time he came to bed, and of course by then he’d been too drunk to try anything. He just collapsed next to her in a snoring heap. 

_––_

Therese was on her third cigarette in less than hour. 

What the hell was taking so long? The more she waited, the more she worried she became. It couldn’t have taken Harge this long to fall asleep, could it? 

Therese looks at her watch again, it was half past midnight and still no sign of Carol. Shit. Shit. Shit. She’ll give Carol another few minutes before she goes up to the house and gets her herself. 

“Drive,” Therese is startled from her thoughts by Carol roughly shoving things in the back seat of the car. 

“Carol?” Therese asks confused, alarmed at sight of the red mark across Carol’s cheek. 

“Darling, please just go,” the older woman implores. 

Therese’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, but she did as she was told.

They'd been sitting in heavy silence for several minutes. Therese wasn’t going to force Carol to talk to her, but the sound of her crying was breaking her heart.

“He hit me,” Carol says, still incredulous, trying to make sense of it in her mind. 

Therese was livid, reinforcing her grip on the wheel so hard her knuckles turned red. 

“I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him.”

“I hit him back,” Carol continues as though she hadn’t spoken, “it’s never happened before.” 

Harge had always been volatile but he’d never been violent. What he didn’t count on was Carol’s right hook, she knocked him out cold, his level of intoxication was no help to him either. After making sure the bastard was still breathing she took her stuff and ran. 

She was grabbing her bags from the back of the closet when the door fell from its hinges and woke Harge up. _Of course_ , the one thing she’d been telling to fix him for months would be the thing to betray her. 

Harge had gotten a little too close too fast, and it was the first time Carol could recall genuinely being afraid he might hurt her. When he caught on to what she was doing he became irate and struck her when she rejected his advances. 

Therese pulls over, sliding over to Carol, gently cupping her cheeks, one hand hovering over the one with the mark –– still red and angry. She softly caressed the surrounding area, and then blows on the wound to sooth the stinging. 

“Oh, Carol,” Therese sighs sadly, meeting her gaze, breaking the silence that had overtaken them again. She picks up Carol’s bruised hand, kissing each knuckle, “it’s over. You’re free.” 

_––_

They started out with a hit on a gas station. 

It wasn’t anything spectacular, Therese just took an extra pack of cigarettes because she could. 

Carol would never admit Therese was better at sleight of hand than she was. Her ego wouldn’t allow it. _So what_ if she had caught onto her game long before Therese knew she’d been caught. She was a good criminal, her skill born out of survival, and though she didn’t have to prove herself to Carol, a small part of her still wanted to impress her. 

They had developed an unhealthy obsession to outdo the other. Their days were spent crossing state lines, helping themselves to whatever, from wherever in between stops, and their late nights were spent wrapped up in each other into the early hours of the morning. 

There were only so many gas stations and convenience stores they could rob, their appetite was becoming insatiable, they wanted more. So, naturally, they raised the stakes.

They had recently come under police radar when they decided to lay low. 

But they were getting restless. 

“How about a bank?”

Carol’s eyes followed Therese with an amused smirk, the brunette had been pacing the length of their hotel room trying to come up with something for them to do.

“Darling, we’re not bank robbers,” she reasoned. 

Therese shrugged, “we agreed to raise the stakes.”

“It’s way too risky,” Carol shakes her head, “we know nothing about banks, darling, back the drawing board.”

Therese groans and plops herself down on the bed for a moment but in an instant she’s back up with an idea, “I got it!” She turns to Carol with a mischievous smile. 

“What is it?” 

It had been Carol’s idea to disguise themselves as men while running cons. After a few close calls they needed to throw police off their trail, it was the smart thing to do. 

This time however Therese would be going it alone. 

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

Therese ignores the question, choosing instead to pout at her reflection in the mirror. 

“I look like a paperboy.” 

Carol comes up behind her, smoothing her hands over her suit clad shoulders.

“A very handsome paperboy, I’d say,” Carol beams at her. 

Therese eyes her lover’s reflection questionably, still not convinced she doesn’t look like a newsie. The look was too square and boxy, she was not a fan. 

Carol picks up her gloves on the bed, “it’s a quick run,” she reassures her, “it’ll be over before you know it.”

She comes back around to stand in front of the other woman, her heels making her their height difference more apparent, she tips Therese’s hat back and kisses her lips. 

Carol wrinkles her nose as she pulls back, “I hate mustaches.” 

Their plan was for Therese to go into a jewelry store posing as a groom interested in buying a gift for their fiance, Carol would follow some time later looking for something else. They lucked out with there only being one Sales Associate working the floor, and between the two of them the woman was amply distracted. She didn’t notice Carol swipe her keys for the display cases or Therese snagging jewels on the other side of the store as she pretended to look around. They figured it would be a while before she noticed those items were missing.

It wasn’t long enough, however. 

The clerk saw the empty cases as she was looking for missing keys, and immediately called the police. Carol and Therese were both gone before the woman noticed anything was gone, her keys strategically placed somewhere she could find them. But she was more astute than they gave her credit for, and they failed to consider that no one would come to the store once they left, afterall the woman was having a slow day. Thus, she was able to give the authorities a partial description of what Therese’s disguise looked like, the last person she saw leave. 

By the time they realized they were being followed it was too late. 

_“Shit,”_ Carol curses, hearing the sirens.

Therese looks in the rearview mirror, alarmed. 

“She saw us?”

The short chase that ensues comes to a crashing end at the bottom of a canal. 

Carol managed to swerve quick enough to avoid the deer in the road but she clipped a tree and they dove head first into the water, the car propelling them forward and then snapping them back in their seats. 

Therese was the first to regain consciousness as the car began to sink. 

“ _No,_ ” Therese panics trying to shake Carol awake but all she gets a grunt in return while her eyes remain firmly shut. 

“Carol, come on,” Therese cries, “please wake up.”

But all she gets is silence in return, her eyes cloud over with more tears. 

Therese tries unbuckling her seatbelt and it easily gives way, but when she goes to do the same for Carol it catches in the latch, and it doesn’t budge no matter how hard she pulls at it. 

The water is up to their necks now, and she knows no one is going to come for them. They managed to lose the cops but in that moment she desperately wished they hadn’t. If only to save Carol. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” 

She can feel them slipping, further and further. 

Suddenly, she remembers the pocket knife she usually carries, like dead weight sitting low in her pocket. 

Therese hurriedly pulls out the knife and starts cutting away at Carol’s belt, it was an old blade and it’s not too sharp but she wasn’t giving up without a fight. 

It takes a few stubborn cuts but she finally gets Carol free and swims them back to shore. 

On land, she immediately begins CPR, and after what feels like some of the most intense hours of Therese’s life, Carol is gasping for breath, sputtering as the air rushes back to her lungs. 

Therese sobs in relief, scampering behind Carol putting her head in her lap as she slowly comes back to life. She hugs the woman to her. 

“We are _never_ doing that again,” Carol rasps after a moment, her chest still burning. 

Therese was okay with that.

_– ct –_

It wasn’t long before Carol and Therese were back to their old antics.

The scene in New York City was different, and they had to switch up their game. As of late, deceiving drunk business men seemed like their new favorite pastime. 

They didn’t need to do this, both had good jobs, Therese was an assistant photographer at a local studio and Carol as a buyer at a furniture store. But old habits died hard. 

When they finally made it into the City, a little worse for wear, Abby helped them find new identities. Assuming Harge had gone to police about her disappearance, Carol divested herself of her name and her wedding ring along with everything else that they lost at the bottom of the canal. They could presume her body washed away with the current as well, for all she cared.

Once they settled into their new lives as Lilith and Molly, they soon decided to pick up where they left off, albeit, with few modifications. 

Their new game had become a little more sinister –– luring men into a false sense of security. Only choosing ones they knew were fickle, familiarizing themselves with their routine for the day, their likes and dislikes, and using them to their advantage to take them for any valuables they carried, either on his person or in his room. 

Therese waits a few minutes after hearing the hotel room door shut, she can hear Carol laugh at something the man slurs, and then nothing

She pops her head from out of the bathroom to find Carol sitting with her ankles crossed at the head of the bed, the man snoring deeply on his side beside her. 

“Is he out?” 

Carol smiles triumphantly. 

“Great. Let’s get out of here.”

Carol stops on her way to the door, “you get anything good?” She wiggles her eyebrows. 

“I’ll show you later, nosy,” Therese chuckles, “Let’s go home.”

They walk out of the building and into the busy snowy night. In the morning, one man would be waking up with a few less things but he’d be too hungover and too embarrassed to do anything about it. 

Therese had to admit, this disguise had its perks. She could walk down the street holding Carol’s hand without anyone turning their heads to look at them. She didn’t particularly care for these ill-fitted suits, but she loved the freedom they gave her to hold Carol so openly. 

They walk a few more blocks before Carol pulls her into an alleyway, away from prying eyes. 

Therese suddenly finds herself pinned between Carol’s body and a brick wall, which isn’t exactly the worst place to be, she muses.

“Ca–Lilith…”

Carol’s glowing eyes sweep over her face, studying her, and Therese recalls her feelings from the day they met. That sense of weightlessness, the butterflies in her stomach, the awe, when Carol first turned her eyes on her. 

“What are you doing?” Therese tilts her head. 

Carol reaches towards her face, gently removing her fake mustache and then her hat and wig follow. She smiles lovingly as her brown hair cascades down past her shoulders. 

“There you are,” the blond finally speaks. “My angel. Flung out of space.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if I did too much, I'd love to hear your thoughts (: 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
